Sugar Rush: Version 2
by Arcade Lackey
Summary: This story is my take on how things could have unfolded differently had the Sugar Rush racers all been adults rather than children. Jawbreaker centric with some bits of Taffy Butter.
1. Different

**Author's Note:** In this story, all of the racers are 19 years old, with the exception of King Candy who is still exactly the same, height and all. The other racers' height (Vanellope's included), would have their heads come up to Ralph's chest. 'Version 2' of Sugar Rush is simply an alternate version of the same exact game where all of the racers are adults and normally proportioned, rather than 9 year old chibis. Litwak went with Version 2 in this story to appeal to the teens more.

The early scenes here will be mostly the same as they were in the movie except for some minor altered details, but before long the plot will branch off in a different direction.

* * *

Vanellope sighed solemnly as she regenerated at the edge of the diet cola springs within Diet Cola Mountain. _No matter how many times I do it.. _She shook her head and wiped some tears out of her eyes. "I guess I'll go climb candy trees again!" she grumbled bitterly. _It's not like I can do much else around here since I'm not allowed to race. __What's the point of even having this shoddy piece of junk here? _She looked over to her kart as she approached the secret entrance of her home. It was a (just barely) decently put together mishmash of various different kart styles that would lead one to question how it even worked. It had the chassis of one of Citrusella's broken down karts, but had two wheels from one of Taffyta's, two wheels from Candlehead's, and the engine and a few other pieces from Crumbelina's.

Vanellope wasn't a whiz at it by any means, but between all the times Jubileena's memory was obviously wiped by something, she did teach Vanellope a few things about building karts by hand. The problem was finding working parts. She always thought it was odd how she could be friends with some of the racers one day and then the next they would be right back to calling her 'the Glitch'. If it were simply the game's highscores being reset, then surely she would have also had her memory erased alongside the others, glitch or not..

She made her way to the Candy Cane Forest after carefully making sure that nobody was around to see her leave her secret home. It was a miracle, she figured, that nobody ever caught her coming or going. Then again, she mostly only did so when the arcade was open and everyone's attention was on the races. She just happened to be exceptionally bored this day. Not like this wasn't the case **every** day, but she figured it was safe enough to roam about on occasion. It's not like King Candy actually made an effort to keep her locked up in the Fungeon so long as he could be certain she had no means to enter a race.

She easily hopped up a few branches of a candy tree and surveyed the area for anything interesting before sighing disappointedly. _As if there's __going to be __anything different around here._ She spent about five minutes hopping from tree to tree before stopping dead in her tracks and clinging tightly onto the candy tree she was standing on as she noticed a ship flying haphazardly through the sky. She looked on, awestruck as a rather large man and 'something' flew out of it after it crashed through several candy trees nearby. _That's different!_ She grinned excitedly once she saw that the guy was alright. _He sure is lucky he didn't get impaled on one of the branches though.._

"Sayonara sucker!" Ralph yelled with a satisfied smirk as he watched the Cy-bug slowly sink into a grape flavored taffy swamp. _What's that music? _He looked around confusedly until his eyes fell on the words 'Sugar Rush' spelled out in a massive amount of small teal candy hearts. "Sugar Rush?.." he muttered to himself. His gaze then fell upon a large castle out in the distance made of bricks of compressed sugar and then onto a race track with numerous giant gumballs rolling around where several racers were just starting a bonus lap for the hell of it as usual. He groaned. "No.. This is that candy go-kart game over by the Whack-a-Mole. I gotta get out of here.." He wiped one of his hands on his overalls as they felt rather sticky from contact with the candy tree's branches. _Something's missing.. No!_ "Oh no! My medal! What? Wha- wha- whe-?" He gasped as he noticed his medal hanging from another candy tree out in the distance and continued to berate himself.

"What is this guy doing?" Vanellope asked herself with a laugh as Ralph awkwardly climbed down the tree he was on, only to start climbing another. _I gotta meet this guy.. He's.. Well he's certainly not from __**this**__ game, that's for sure! _She quickly made her way to the tree Ralph had started climbing and glitched onto a branch just below him, having at least **some** control over her usually involuntary glitching.

Ralph grunted worriedly for some reason as he climbed the tree, as if there were some arbitrary time limit for him reaching his medal. _Almost there. Just a little higher.._

"Hey dude!" Vanellope yelled up at him as she sat on the branch. _What's the rush? If it's sugar, there's plenty of that down __on the ground._

Ralph freaked out, losing his grip on the tree and just barely stabilized himself just below the branch Vanellope was sitting on. He looked around worriedly in just about every direction but the one she was in. _Who said that?_

"Hello!" Vanellope said with a smile._ I'm right here, man.._

Ralph laughed incredulously and said, "Oh. Man, you scared me, girl." He sighed a sigh of relief. "Nearly soiled myself." _What's she doing up here in the first place?_ He looked down. _Sheesh._

"What's your name?" Vanellope asked wryly. _He looked like he'd have done it with or without my 'scaring' him._

"Uh, Ralph. Wreck-It Ralph.." he said while catching his breath as he looked up at his dangling medal. _I don't really have time for this._

"You're not from here are you?" Vanellope asked through a grin as she stabilized her balance with her hands while swinging her legs back and forth. _It's plain as day. And what's with those hands?_

"No- Well, yeah. I mean, I'm not from right in this area," Ralph said nervously, "I'm just doing some work here." _She's not going to __fall for it__. Not like I care though._

"What kind of work?" Vanellope asked with an incredulous grin. _I can see right through that lie, but let's see your improvisation skills at work._

"Just some routine candy tree trimming.." Ralph said as he patted the tree he was still holding onto for dear life, "Uh, you probably want to stand back. In fact this whole area is technically closed while we're trimming.." _Damn, she's onto me for sure._

"Who's we?" Vanellope asked. _It's just you and me here, buddy._

"Candy tree department," Ralph said pointedly as he began to climb again. _Go away.._

"Oh. Where's everybody else?" Vanellope asked while gesturing around at the everybody else who was clearly nowhere to be found.

"Alright, look," Ralph said in an annoyed tone as he stopped climbing, "I know you're not dumb, but I'm a** little** busy here and I'd rather not waste any more time than I have to so if you would-" He looked down to where she was sitting. _Where'd she go?_

"Hey, come on, I'm just trying to be nice," Vanellope said wryly from a higher branch which prompted Ralph to confusedly look up to her new position. _It's been so long since anyone came visit this game. Outsiders aren't exactly welcome.._

"Well I'm **not** here to make nice," Ralph said pointedly as he pointedly pointed at his medal up above, "I'm just here to get my medal that flew up there and return to my game." _It's not like I'm ever coming back to this game, so what's the point?_

_Somebody give this guy a mentos.._ "Sheesh your breath smells," Vanellope muttered half to herself as she backed away before looking at the medal he was pointing to. Her face lit up excitedly and she yelled, "Sweet mother of monkey milk, a gold coin!" _I know it's stealing, but if I can just win a race!_

"Gold coi-? Hey, that's mine!" Ralph yelled as they began to race to the top. He pleaded futilely along the way until he fell after grabbing a double-stripe branch, "Come on!" _What the hell is with these disappearing branches?_

"The winner!" Vanellope said excitedly as she grabbed the medal at the top as Ralph continued climbing to catch up, "Sorry dude!" She inspected the medal curiously. _It's different, but it __**should**__ still work!_ "Really, I am. But I think I've waited long enough to race." She began to hop down branch after branch. _It's been at least 5 years since I last talked a racer into __giv__ing me __one of their__ gold coin__s__, and __**that**__ one lasted all of 10 minutes._

"This. Is. **Mine**!" Ralph said as he snatched the medal out of her hand. _Rotten __little__ thief.._

"Woah!" Vanellope shrieked and glitched in place before furiously hopping down and snatching it right back. _Dive bomb time, I guess. __I __**can't**__ lose this chance..__Now t__his __**s**__**hould**__ be high enough, but just in case.._ She hopped up a few more branches as Ralph struggled to catch up. She took a deep breath and jumped a good distance away from the tree. She dived towards the ground head first and closed her eyes. _This is gonna hurt, but I'm used to it._ She clutched the medal to her chest and..

"What?!" Ralph asked worriedly as Vanellope regenerated a second after hitting the ground. _That's suicidal.. _He held onto the branch he was hanging on, in complete shock that the girl would go so far as to game over in order to keep his medal.

_Owwww__.. _"Later, chum!" Vanellope yelled excitedly as she picked the medal up off the ground and wiped her eyes, "Sorry!"_So much for making a friend.._

"Come back!" Ralph said angrily after snapping out of it, "I will find you! I **will** find you!" Unluckily for him, he was hanging onto a double-striped branch again which for one reason or another took a while to disappear. It blinked twice which made him look up confusedly. _Huh?_

"Double-stripe!" Vanellope yelled as Ralph yelped and fell into the green apple taffy swamp before running back home to quickly get her kart. _It's almost time for the Random Roster Race. I have to hurry!_

* * *

Ralph made his way towards the race track while grumbling to himself and still stuck in a thick layer of taffy, except now there was a modest layer of candy stuck to it as well. He got there just as Vanellope's name was announced as an entrant to the Random Roster Race.

"Yippee! I'm in the race!" Vanellope yelled excitedly after pulling off her pink racing goggles and the hood of her hoodie. _No backsies, King Candy! _She smirked at him rebelliously. _I'm in the race. There's nothing he should be able to do about it. I just hope I'm right in thinking that the race can't start without all of the racers involved.._

"The Glitch!" Taffyta hissed after recovering from mild shock as she uncovered the mystery kart Vanellope had driven to the track. _And she brought a weird kart.._

The crowd went into a panic immediately as 'The Glitch' had never actually made it this far with an actual kart to race with, let alone one with a working engine and everything. King Candy did his best to quell their fears as he sicced Wynnchel and Duncan on Vanellope.

Just as Vanellope was about to make it to her kart, Ralph arrived on the scene and chased her under the stands of the various racer fans. Ralph paid no mind to the audience members. Honestly he didn't even notice them due to the taffy obscuring his vision and hearing as well as his focus being solely on the rotten thief constantly hiding under the stands. _I don't know what's up with the blue binary, but that's not __my problem!_

"What is your **deal**?!" Vanellope asked as she continuously glitched involuntarily and scrambled under numerous different stands. _This guy just doesn't give up.._

Just as Ralph knocked down the last stand, with Vanellope having nowhere else to hide, he happened to look up just before a giant cupcake landed on him and more or less sealed his movements. "Can't move," he said distressedly as he struggled to free himself to no avail. _Grr.._

Vanellope laughed and danced around him briefly. _Here._ She kissed Ralph's taffy-covered face and waved goodbye before running off amidst the chaos. After hearing that the race will be held, but it's postponed, she drove off in her kart until it was time. _He brought that upon himself._

* * *

Wynnchel and Duncan rolled the strange taffy-cupcake monster up to the castle's throne room at King Candy's request and wiped their hands.

King Candy honked the horn of his kart to the tune of 'Hail to the Chief' and backed it up to complete his throne after circling them. He hopped on top of the hood of his throne-kart and huffed, "Sour Bill, detaffify this monster so we can see what we're dealing with here." He got off of his kart and glared at the monster as he dared to get closer to it. _What __**is**__ this? Whatever it is, it has some connection to that __**Glitch**__.._

"Okay," Sour Bill droned before ripping off Ralph's Taffy mask. _Human?_

"Ahh!" Ralph screamed. _That hurt!_

"Milk my duds!" King Candy said confusedly, "It's Wreck-It Ralph?!" _What is __**he**__ doing here?_

"Yeah?" Ralph said indignantly, "Who are you, the guy that makes the donuts?" _You certainly look the part._

King Candy giggled at the dirty joke and said, "Please, no. I'm King Candy." _Like someone in my position doesn't have a woman around here._

"I see you're a fan of pink," Ralph said with a nod as he looked around. _Let's just get this over with, I have to catch that woman.._

"Salmon," King Candy said pointedly, "Salmon. It's obviously salm- What are you **doing** here?"

"Look, your candiness," Ralph said reassuringly, "This is just a big misunderstanding. Just get me out of this cupcake. I'll get my medal, and I'll be out of your way." _I'm not very good with diplomacy.._

"Your **medal**?" King Candy asked with a giddy laugh, "Bad Guys don't **win** medals." _You stole one, didn't you?_

"Well this one did," Ralph said with a sigh, "I earned it over in.." He looked away. "Hero's Duty."

"You game jumped?" King Candy asked worriedly, "Ralph, you're not going Turbo **are** you?" _Like I did?_

"What? No no no no no," Ralph said reassuringly as four oreo guards came to King Candy's side. _Watch where you're pointing those lances.._

"Because if-if-if you think you can come in here," King Candy he said worriedly with a gasp, "into **my** kingdom and take over my game, you've got another thing coming!"_ I've built up too much here to lose it now!_

"**Easy** your puffiness!" Ralph said in an annoyed tone, "It's not my fault one of your sugar boppers stole my medal." _I wish I could have come up with a better pun.._

"Sugar boppers?" King Candy said confusedly, "Who would- The Glitch! The coin she used to buy her way into the race. That was your medal?"

"She did what?!" Ralph asked, "I need that back!"

"Well I'm afraid I can't help you," King Candy said pointedly while gesturing with his hands, "It's gone you know. It's-it's-it's nothing but **code** now! And it'll stay that way until someone wins the cup at the end of the **race**!

"Well maybe I'll just have to have a little talk with the winner then," Ralph said pointedly. _What would **they** want with my medal?_

"Is that a threat I smell?" King Candy asked as he narrowed his eyes which suddenly began to burn. He instantly backed up in a truly disgusted manner upon taking a breath, "Beyond the halitosis you so **obviously** suffer from!" _Somebody give this guy a mentos!_

"Listen nelly wafer," Ralph huffed, "I'm not leaving without my medal!"

"Yes, you are," King Candy said threateningly as he dared get in Ralph's face yet again before returning to his kart, "Wynnchel, Duncan, get him out of that cupcake and on the first train back home! And if I **ever** see you here again, Wreck-It Ralph.." He turned to face him briefly and pointed at him even more threateningly before laughing. "I'll lock you in my Fungeon.." _Do you want that? Hmm?_

* * *

**Author's Note: **As long as this story continues to get support, I'll continue writing it. I normally wouldn't say something like that, but I have a number of unfinished stories and wouldn't otherwise know which you'd like me to prioritize.

Also, I'm currently still working on a Jawbreaker story titled 'The Honeyglow Surge', which is the sequel to 'A Sudden Surge'. 'The Honeyglow Surge' also has Hero's Cuties and a few other pairings you'll like if you give them a chance.

Another Jawbreaker story I had started writing is 'Wrecking Man'. It was originally a one-shot that I wrote alongside this one to see which people preferred more. It's a bit darker than what I usually write and as such it's rated M. Just giving you fair warning.


	2. Junkyard

After a tiresome conversation about the Fungeon being a fun dungeon (notice the play on words, ha ha), King Candy rode out of the castle in his kart to search for 'The Glitch'.

Ralph quickly escaped the castle by busting through a wall shortly after. When he finally hit the ground, it thankfully busted the giant, rock solid cupcake he was encased in so that he could proceed unhindered. He ran for a while, with Wynnchel and Duncan, and a few Devil Dogs hot on his smelly trail until he had the bright idea to hide in a pond full of chocolate syrup. He cringed and shuddered at the thought of being surrounded by so much chocolate but ultimately decided it was his best bet.

"I just gotta do this.." Ralph reluctantly said to himself as he grabbed a giant, hollow cinnamon stick to use as a breathing tube and slipped in. _Yuck.._

He closed his eyes then moved to the center of the pond. After mentally fighting off the crawling sensations in his skin until his pursuers left, he quickly made his way out of the chocolate syrup and spat out the stick of cinnamon. In the process he got a taste of chocolate. "Chocolate.. I **hate** chocolate.." he said in a disgruntled tone as he started climbing up to a track composed of chocolate dust. The edges of the track were lined with balls of chocolate, thin chocolate strips, green and yellow swirled gumdrops, and assorted small candy beads.

"I gotta get my medal back," he muttered to himself, unsure as to how exactly he would accomplish that. Before he could get lost in thought about it, he quickly ducked his head down when three racers drove past on the actual track. The mental, coded gears in his head slowly turned until finally.. "The pot goes to the winning racer!" he said to himself in a hopeful tone, "Hey guys! Can I talk to you for a second?!" _They didn't hear me.._ He ran after them.

"Who was **that** guy?" Taffyta asked herself as she scrunched her nose and ignored him. _Whatever.. We just need to make sure The Glitch doesn't race. She is __**not**__ about to get __our__ home unplugged.. I don't care __**how**__ badly she wants to race. Besides, she'd __**die**__ if that happened. I'm doing her a **favor**!  
_

* * *

Vanellope was grinning like an idiot and humming as she went on her way back home in her mess of a kart to wait it out until the race would be held. Along the way however, in the Junkyard, her kart lost one of its wheels. "Oh, come **on**!" she groaned as she came to a stop and got out, "I don't have **time** for this!"_ I need to have this ready for when the race starts.. Not that I'll win with __**this**__ piece of junk._

She was snapped from her concentration while fixing said tire when she heard the roar of three engines. _Just what I needed.. Play it cool, Vanellope. They can't prevent you from racing, right? I'm __**in**__!_ She dusted herself off and smiled nervously as Taffyta, Rancis, and Candlehead surrounded her in their karts.

"Hello, fellow racers!" Vanellope said in an attempt to make nice.

"It's that little crumb snatcher.." Ralph said under his breath as he hid behind one of the track's mounds to watch. _What are they even doing?.. And why am I hiding?_

"Candlehead, Taffyta, Rancis," Vanellope started warmly, "You're looking well.. Came by to check out the competition, huh? Well here it is!" She danced back and gestured at the Frankenkart, "The Lickity Split!" _Why I came up with **that** name, I don't know.._

"Sheesh, it looks like she built it herself.." Ralph said under his breath, completely appalled at its bad design.

"Built it myself," Vanellope said proudly. _It's bad, I know.. _She opened her mouth to continue, but Taffyta shook her head and held out a hand as if to say 'stop'.

Taffyta licked her lollypop and sighed, "Vanellope, what are you doing? Seriously.." She crossed her arms, completely unamused at both the kart, and Vanellope's attempts at being nonchalant. "You **know** the rules. We're all adults here, aren't we? Just back out of the race and everything will be as it should be."

"Hey, I paid my fee to race just like **everybody** else!" Vanellope argued modestly, "My name's even on the board! So yeah, I'm **definitely **racin'." She smirked. _Like I'm about to give this chance up!_

"Did you even think about what would happen if you got on the roster?" Taffyta asked dryly as she shrugged widely and paced around briefly, "You're going to get our game unplugged, you stupid **Glitch**." _It's like arguing a jawbreaker.._

"Now, Taffyta.." Rancis cooed. _You're being a little too harsh.._

"**No**, Rancis," Taffyta said as she pushed his face away with her hand, "I am **not** going to risk losing **my home** because some **programming mistake** thinks that she can just waltz on in like she runs the place." Her stomach churned. "Forget about **us** for a second. Don't you even know what will happen to **you** if you get on the roster?" She flicked her lollypop at Vanellope, which made her involuntarily glitch. "One look at your glitching and Litwak is gonna pull our plug. The **rest **of us can leave.. but **you**? You're gonna die a **slow**, **agonizing** death as your pixels get ripped apart. Is **that** what you want? Is racing **that** important to you?"

"Yes," Vanellope said through clenched teeth without a pinch of hesitation.

Rancis and Candlehead immediately froze in shock.

Taffyta scoffed at the unexpected answer, "Well that's too bad. Because you are **not** going to race." She was ready to push Vanellope in a small puddle of chocolate when Ralph tapped her on the shoulder. She nearly had a game over when she turned to see the same hulking man she noticed hiding earlier.

"Hey, uh.." Ralph started awkwardly, "I see you're kinda busy, but I'd like to clarify something for a sec.." _That was just painful to watch._

"G-get away from her!" Rancis squeaked an attempt at intimidating the wrecker. _No good.. _He laughed nervously and couldn't stop his body from shaking at the thought of those fists flying his way.

Ralph facepalmed and sighed, "Why does **nobody** listen to me?"

"You oughta speak up, **Stinkbrain** and maybe they would," Vanellope said as she rolled her eyes. _Saved by the smell.._

"**Don't** press your luck, princess. I just saved your molasses," Ralph grumbled as he stared her down before turning his attention back to Taffyta, "Litwak ain't gonna unplug anybody's game if it's goofy for a day. Who told you that? My game has an out of order sign on it right now and **it's** still plugged in." _It's happened before for other games too._

"See!" Vanellope beamed excitedly and hugged Ralph's arm briefly before cringing and glitching away slightly. _Okay, that was gross.._

Ralph awkwardly cocked his jaw to the side in mild annoyance and said, "Look.. I need to get the medal that his chick stole from me to enter your little race. I don't care about your argument, but her racing for even just a day isn't going to kill **anybody**, let alone an entire game."

"That.. But King Candy said!" Taffyta argued in a whiny tone. _That can't be right.._

"And what does **he** know?" Vanellope asked bitterly, "We've never been out of order even once in 15 years."

"What are you **talking** about?" Rancis asked with an incredulous grin, "We've only been plugged in a **week**, you know?" _I guess that's another downside of being a glitch.._

"**Two days**, Rancis.." Taffyta sighed and facepalmed. _How does he get a __**week**__ out of two days?_

"You've got a pretty messed up sense of time. Penelope is right.." Ralph said pointedly, "My game is right across from yours, so I think I'd know how long it was plugged in." _It's been there ages. I don't know if it was 15 years though._

Vanellope rolled her eyes and sighed, "**Va**nellope! With a **V**.. And they won't believe you no matter how many times you tell them that. I'm the only one that remembers."

"U-um.." Candlehead laughed awkwardly, "I thought we were plugged in a month.. so.."

"See?" Vanellope said as she gestured at Candlehead, which made her flinch, "You're **all** mixed up. That should tell you **something**! Now are you gonna let me race or not?" _Please?_ She smiled earnestly.

Rancis sighed, "All in favor say, 'Aye'.." _Sorry, Taffyta._ He cleared his throat to the side, "Aye.."

"Aye?.." Candlehead said with an apologetic smile in Taffyta's direction. _Please just do it? I feel bad otherwise.._

"**Fine**!" Taffyta grumbled, "But **this** piece of junk isn't even gonna cross the finish line, you know?"

"It might.." Vanellope said as she began to pout. _No, she's right.._

The wheel she had started to fix before fell off.

"You were **saying**?" Taffyta asked with a face that said, 'I told you so'.

"Let's help her make one!" Candlehead said with a glint in her eye. _That's always fun!_

Taffyta shot her a glare then scrunched her shoulders and held her hands in the air, "Fine.. We're already gonna be accomplices to a **crime**. Why not commit a **felony** or two while we're at it, **right**?!" _I hope the beds in the Fungeon are soft.._

"You think they'd let us share a cell?" Rancis teased, which earned him a glare as well. _What? _He laughed.

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Vanellope asked while fighting off the urge to cringe and vurp.

"Would you quit **whining**?" Taffyta asked in an annoyed tone as she plucked the candies from Vanellope's hair one by one, "Beard Papa is a softy. If he doesn't recognize you as.. **you**.. then he'll let you in, no questions asked." She released Vanellope's hair from its ponytail and let it fall down to her shoulders.

They were all at Taffyta's strawberry-themed house. Vanellope, Taffyta, and Candlehead were in her bedroom, in front of a large vanity mirror, with Vanellope sitting on a small, strawberry patterned stool. Various kinds of makeup were scattered on the light green counter. The room was covered in various shades of pink, with slight touches of green.

Ralph and Rancis were waiting out in the hall.

"So what's up with the big guy?" Candlehead giggled, "He's been following us around like a big, lost devil dog." _A grumpy and __**smelly**__ one._

"He just wants to get his dumb medal back," Vanellope scoffed as she reluctantly lifted her arms so that Taffyta could pull her hoodie off and slip on a white t-shirt.

"Yeah, nice job **stealing** it from him.. Here," Taffyta said as she handed her a red zip-up hoodie, "I'm **expecting** this back after the race.." _Provided we even __**make**__ it that far._

"Thanks," Vanellope laughed as she put it on but left it unzipped, "but he had it coming anyways, and I was gonna give it back when I won.." _It'll take a while longer before she really warms up to me again.._

"You won't win though, you do realize that, right?" Taffyta said dryly, "Even **with** our help your chances are slim.. I mean, how fast could that kart of yours even go?"

"Her leggings too!" Candlehead whispered worriedly. _He'll notice!_

"Thanks for the warning, Candlehead," Taffyta said flatly, "Take those off and I'll see what I can find.." _I'm glad my mom owns a clothing store.. Not like she's anywhere to be found._

Vanellope scoffed, "I don't even **need** to win, okay? I just want to race like you guys. You always go on about how I'm a **glitch** and somebody who was never even meant to **exist**, but do you really even believe that for a second? **Look** at me, Taffyta!" She glitched in place, "Do you really think that I'm just some **accident**? I have a **face**! I have hair with **candies** in them. I have clothes and **hazel eyes**! Do you think all of that is just a **coincidence**?"

"**Alright**! Sheesh!" Taffyta groaned, "You're not a **mistake**, alright? But that doesn't change the fact that you're a glitch and that you will give the players a bad vibe.."

"You don't know that," Vanellope mumbled, "They might think it's a **feature** if I can just control it better.."

* * *

"Sooo.." Rancis said with an awkward smile. _I hope Taffyta doesn't plan on doing an entire makeover.. Just clothes is enough._

"What?" Ralph asked dryly. His arms were crossed tightly, which was a good thing as the hallway wasn't exactly designed for someone his size. _'Sooo..'_

Rancis laughed nervously, "What game are you from?" _I hope this guy doesn't snap.._

"Fix-It Felix Jr.," Ralph grumbled, "Why?"

"Just trying to be nice, that's all," Rancis eased, "Just thought we could maybe be friends or somethin', I guess?" _No need to be so uptight.._

"Really?" Ralph incredulously. His face would let on that he was unimpressed, though he was actually happy to hear that. "**You** and me, huh?" _Well.. That wouldn't be such a crime, I guess. Not compared to what they're about to do, I suppose._

"Well, why not?" Rancis shrugged, though his nervousness hadn't subsided in the slightest, "Just because we're from different games doesn't mean anything, right?" _King Candy would disagree, but I don't see the harm.._

"Guess not.." Ralph scoffed and looked away, though the smallest hint of a smile played on his lips. _I can't let my guard down though.._ He furrowed his brow, "So what's taking them so long in there?" _Sounds a little like arguing too. Must be some thick walls though since I can't hear what they're saying.._

"Girls take time to get ready for special occasions," Rancis said through a grin. _It hasn't even been that long though._

* * *

**Author's Note:** In case you're wondering why the other racers didn't go pick on Vanellope in the Junkyard.. They've got other things to do. They're not kids eager to pick on somebody that's different than them.

I'll be continuing 'Wrecking Man' as well, though both will only be updated so long as I know you guys are still interested in them. It's not so easy juggling 4 separate stories, after all. 'Wrecking Man' is now rated M, so be aware of that when looking to read it.


	3. They Have An Accord

_To Guest: I'm still updating The Honeyglow Surge, don't worry :p. Odd that you'd put that in a review for this story though instead of that one ;)._

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"Are we still not done?" Vanellope asked boredly as Taffyta put on a few finishing touches on her makeup. _I mean seriously.._

"We are **now**," Taffyta huffed in mild annoyance, "You know, we'd have been done **sooner** if you wouldn't keep arguing about my outfit suggestions. And there's nothing wrong with wearing mascara you know?" _Just try not to cry.._

"I just don't think it suits me like it does you.." Vanellope sighed as she turned back to the mirror and looked at herself while making a variety of faces. Her hair was down, and done in small curls. _It doesn't look __**bad**, but just I look so different.._

"That's the whole point," Taffyta humphed with a smirk, "You're not going to make a kart as **you**. You're going as.. uh.." _Oh crumb, I forgot about the name.. _She furrowed her brow and facepalmed. _We should have figured out a name first._

"Oh! Caramella Fudgepop!" Candlehead said excitedly as she raised her hand, "..I was thinking about it this whole time.." She laughed sheepishly and covered her mouth with her hands, which were in turn covered by the sleeves of her pink racing jacket. "..It **is** a good name, right?" _I thought so at least.._

"I like it," Vanellope beamed, "Although I should have probably gone with a more.. chocolate and caramel color scheme, using a name like that."

"Well it's not too late, let's quickly find you something caramel-colored to wear," Taffyta said as she rolled her eyes, "You can even use your **own** skirt since **that's** brown. We should hurry though, because we don't know when the track repairs will be done." She facepalmed again and shook her head before quickly turning back to her closet. _At least I've got tons of outfits I'll probably never wear._

* * *

"On that note," Rancis said as he became slightly more brave in Ralph's domineering presence, "What do you think of her?" They were still in the back hallway of Taffyta's small home.

"What?" Ralph asked with a confused, and slightly annoyed look plastered on his face. _What's he on about?_ He clenched his hands slightly into his already crossed arms.

"Vanellope," Rancis chuckled quietly, "What do you think of her?" _She may be selfish, but I don't think she's bad. If I didn't already have Taffyta I might would consider asking her out myself. Except I prefer Taffyta anyways.. She'd probably be miffed at me for thinking Vanellope wouldn't be a bad girlfriend._

"She's.. lonely. Lonely and suicidal.. and will do anything to race," Ralph sighed after thinking over his answer, "I can't say I completely blame her for not caring if she dies as long as she's able to do what she feels she was programmed for at least once. You know.. since nobody is really there for her." _I know that feeling all too well._ He licked his teeth absentmindedly. _Maybe I shouldn't hold her stealing my medal against her so much. I stole it myself, not that that lady from Hero's Duty will miss it._

"That's not entirely our fault.." Rancis said as he looked down, full of regret, "I don't think there's much that we can do since our memory keeps getting reset somehow." _She can't count on us for long._ He shook his head then sincerely looked Ralph in the eye as if to mentally plead with him, "**You** on the other hand.. Why don't **you** make sure she doesn't stay alone?" _He has no mind for romance, does he? I thought it'd be fairly obvious how I meant that question before.._

"Whoa there.. bad idea," Ralph chuckled nervously just as the three girls opened the door to Taffyta's room, "This may come as a shock to you, but in my game I'm the **Bad **Guy.." _Cat's out of the bag. _He glanced at the three girls from the corner of his right eye somewhat sadly and sighed, "So being friends with you guys just wouldn't work out.." _I should have known better. I should go.. These guys don't need me._

He carefully made his way down the hall and left as Rancis and the others stayed behind.

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"Ralph, wait!" Vanellope yelled as she ran over to him while forcing herself to glitch with some minor difficulty. By the time she had caught up to him, he was almost leaving the cul-de-sac where Taffyta's house was located, between Rancis' and Candlehead's. There were a few other houses there as well. Each house was built according to the theme of the racers who lived there, though they were shaped like muffins.

Ralph cocked his jaw open and to the side briefly in annoyance, though he was somewhat happy to hear her running up to him, oddly enough. He stopped walking away and turned to face her while gesturing at Taffyta's house with one hand, "You heard what I said in there.. You guys are better off without me."

Vanellope was wearing a zipped up, light brown leather jacket with matching cowboy hat and boots, though she still wore her original skirt. _It's hot in this outfit.._ "What makes you think it matters to me any if you're a Bad Guy in your game, Stinkbrain?" she asked as she exaggeratedly rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "And what about your crummy medal? I don't think Bad Guys **win** medals so.." _I don't know where __**he**__ stole it from, but it seemed like him getting it back was a matter of life or death before. _

"Forget about the medal.." Ralph sighed and turned away, more annoyed than before, "and that's just how things are in this arcade. You would understand if you'd ever **gone** out there rather than stick around here where everyone just avoids you and keeps you from racing."

"You really don't know anything do you?" Vanellope asked seriously as she walked in front of him to look him in the eye, "Glitches **can't** leave their games." She put her hands in the pockets of her borrowed jacket and sighed, "It's one of the joys of being **me**."

"Oh.. Well at least you don't live in a dump surrounded by garbage like I do," Ralph huffed in an apologetic tone.

"I **do**.." Vanellope shrugged, "You think an unofficial character like me would have a house like these guys do? I live in that volcano over there, Diet Cola Mountain.." She subtly shook her head, with her curls moving around slightly. _It doesn't matter right now._ "Long story short, I don't want to involve them any more than I already have, but I still need help. So are you gonna help me or not? You must have some reason for so desperately wanting that crummy medal earlier, right?"

Ralph scratched his head and shrugged, "Well it's my ticket to a better life.. Or so I thought. Maybe not so much though, now that I really think about it.." _We're more alike than I thought.._

"Sooo?.." Vanellope said with a hopeful smile.

"I **guess** I can help, since you can't do whatever it is you need to do alone," Ralph muttered.

"Then let's shake on it, Ralph, my man," Vanellope beamed in a southern accent as she pulled her hand out of her borrowed jacket and extended it for a handshake, "C'mon, before my arm gets tired."

Ralph rolled his eyes and playfully scoffed as he lightly took her hand between his thumb and forefinger to shake it once, "You'd better win." _I guess I __**am**__ all she's got, since in theory, the others could lose their memory again at any moment.._

* * *

"There you are, Candy," Jubileena giggled from her kart as King Candy parked his next to hers, "I almost thought we'd end up canceling our date because of Vanellope being on the loose and able to race."

They were in the Licorice Fields. As the place's name would suggest, it was thickly littered with deep-rooted, red licorice grass and spanned a wide, hilled area.

"About that," King Candy laughed nervously as he glitched into a taller, and younger version of himself beside his kart, something that he's shown only to her, "I'd like to enlist **your** help in catching her first, if that's alright with you.." He looked away sadly for a brief moment and continued, "Sad as it is, Vanellope can't be allowed to race." _Because if she did, then __**this**__ would be lost forever.._

"I know," Jubileena cooed as she hopped out of her kart and gave him a hug, "Just one day in the Fungeon, right? Just long enough to make sure we don't get unplugged.."

"Of course," King Candy said with a nod before longingly resting his forehead on her shoulder and resting his hands on the small of her back, "She won't like it, but it's for **her** sake as well as ours.. I just wish there were a way for me to fix that glitching of hers so that she **could** join us."

"There **is** no way to fix glitching though," Jubileena sighed as she ran her fingers through his hair, "Her file doesn't have any connections, right? It's a miracle that she's even alive."

"Come on, we'd better go.." King Candy said with a modest smile as he slowly pulled away, "It would be best if you go after her on her own and contact me when you find her. I won't be far behind."

"Sure thing," Jubileena said with a nod. _I'm almost scared to ask.._ "..You're not mad at me for helping her before, are you?" _If I didn't teach her how to build a kart on her own, we wouldn't be in this mess.. Not that she was a complete amateur by the time I taught her a few things.._

"Honey," King Candy cooed with a soft laugh and flip of his wrist, "How could I be mad at you for that? You were just trying to help in your own way. You just didn't know what the consequences could be, that's all.. That was so long ago anyways, why are you asking now?" _I don't even remember when her last reset was. I'm glad I can trust her now.._

"Because she can actually race, I guess.." Jubileena frowned worriedly, "It's all my fault that she has a kart to race with.."

"She can't win with that even if she does somehow manage to race," King Candy said with a warm smile and chuckle, "Don't worry about it.. Now come on, the clock is ticking." He laughed more as he gave her a parting hug and glitched back into his shorter, balding form. He hopped back into his kart and waved before driving off.

Jubileena groaned, "No kiss this time.."

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**Author's Note:** If you've read any of my story 'Reload', you'll find that I've given Turbo a more human characterization there, just like I've done for 'King Candy' here. I'd like to hear your thoughts on where that's headed as I've actually not decided on his fate just yet. I'll take your comments into account, but ultimately I'll decide on my own what to do with him when the time comes :p.

'Wrecking Man' will be updated with another chapter within a few days, so follow/favorite or keep an eye out for it in the M-rated section.


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